I'm lost. I can think of a million possibilities for what I'm experiencing but don't know where to start, I'm hoping one of you have had this problem.

Pulled into my favorite local restaraunt. No room to park so I parked in front of the Autozone next door. Went inside and had a wonderful meal. Came out jumped in my 91 camaro 305 tbi turned the key and the stereo starts blasting but nothing else happens. Turn off the stereo, turn key again, nothing. No tell tale click, or anything. Call my wife, she shows up, and just to make sure I try to jump it off. Nothing. Turn headlights on, try turning key looking for dimming, they are as bright as ever. Figure by now, not a dead battery. Noticed that the a/c fan is not coming on when I turn the key. I'm not sure if that could be a sign or what.

Now, I'm thinking a few things, please chime in!

A) Loose connection at starter.
B) Bad Starter
C) Blown fuse ((if so, which one?) it was getting dark I couldn't see to check them)
D) Light car on fire and hope it doesn't take out the A/Z with it.

Any additional insight would be greatly appreciated as I don't like leaving my baby in front of a parts store, where I'm sure it will be lonely tonight.

Thanks

 

Thats funny I had the same thing happen to me a week ago. I went to a buds house and every thing was fine. Went to leave and nothing. Stereo was ok but nothing from the starter. Tried to jump it but nothing so I was in the same boat as you are, so what the hell, I pulled the battery to charge it all night and sure as s**t it would not take a charge and was dead. I put a new battery in and all is well. Heck see if that is it.

 

could be a bad or mis adjusted neutral safety switch/

 

Thanks for the thoughts guys. I will be going there in a few minutes and checking things. May have A/Z check the battery since it's sitting in their parking lot. I never thought about the neutral switch. Maybe it isn't in park all the way, I did slam it in there in a hurry. Anyways, like I said, thanks for the thoughts.

 

Ok, went to my car this morning, jumped in and it fired up like nothing had ever happened. WTF??? I'm happy that it is still alive, but confused as to why I had to go through all of this trouble. Maybe it doesn't love me anymore.

 

i can almost gaurantee it was you VATS system at large,preventing you from stealing your own car.i had the same thing happen to me 3 times within a few months.i just started carrying my other key with me.you have to let it sit for 5 minutes to reset itself,then go for it and it should start.i hate VATS.it got me stuck at the place where the girl and I got our limo for her senior ball.luckily the owner is a Vette guy so i talked to him for a little bit while the car reset itself.VATS=

 

if your VATS system is dirty, it won't start.
Get a can of compressed air (NOT WD-40) and clean the ignition out.
Make sure the car is in park when you start it too

I've had both problems, embarrassing.

 

got to be the vats. it happens to me too every once in a while. try cleaning te ignition. funny how it thinks your stealing the car with your own key????

 

I forgot about the dam VATS. I've had that same problem with them to. And it always does it when you are in a hurry to leave.

 

I am so mad at my car! This is the 3rd day in a row that it will let me drive and get where I'm going then not start. After trying and waiting and waiting and trying it still won't start. So, it sits in a gas station parking lot and I walked 6 miles home to wait for my wife to get home so I can take my tools to it. Problem is I don't know where to start. I'm sure it's the vats, but now what. I want to fix it but I need to get it home first. I know that bypassing the system is taboo on this forum but I really need some info, if anyone can help via e-mail or let me know how to get it home so I can replace everything it would be greatly appreciated.

 

Have you tried moving the shifter when turning the key when it doesnt want to start? If it starts when you do this or tries to start its the neutral safety switch that is mounted on the shifter. Sorry I cant help you if it is VATS. I am glad my third gen doesnt have VATS.

 

Thanks for the tip, but I've shaken the shifter, moved it into neutral, and from first all the way to park and every other gear on it, but still nothing. I did it with the key off and with the key held in start and still nothing.

 

my vats acts up too sometimes and yes it only happens when your in a hurry......enough to drive you crazy, i might just go ahead and disable it but ive wondered.....my chip (resister) in my key seems to be a lil loose so i was thinking if geting a new set of keys for the ignition can i just check the resistence of my chip in the key with a multimeter? and pick some blanks up off of e-bay with the right resistance chip in it then go get it cut locally? vats gurus please help

 

I bet it's your fusible link. GM's are bad for that problem, eventually they always go bad. If you don't know what it is, it's a wire that goes from your ignition to the starter. It's designed to burn up when overloaded, like a fuse. I have no idea why they didn't just use a fuse from the factory. Anyway, they eventually get brittle and start cracking. If thats the problem... good luck tracing it back to the ignition

 

like what was stated earlier, it is most likely that it is your VATS system and the way to find out is: the next time it won't start, if the security (orange) light stays on, then you need a new vats system. if the security light goes out, then it is not your vats.
note, according to gm literature i have read, if the vats is faulty and the light stays on, you have to wait like 3-5 min. from the last time you keyed it.
if you are just running into the store for a min. turn the key just enough so the engine cuts out, but the key stays in the on position, this will bypass the vats on the next start since it already pssed through it once. DO NOT do this if the car is going to be left for extended periods of time, other wise kiss your fuel pump, alternator and battery good by. (I learned this from experiece- i had to do this on my old rs, damn faulty vats almost cost me graduation from h.s. due to tardies )

 

to fix this yourself you have to go to gm and get a new vats lock cylinder and key. and pull apart the steering column. fixing it is just replacing the lock cyl.

 

VATS Problem? I hope this will help you out there.

1. Check what resistance is on your key - doing that with an ohm meter - touching the little embossed peice of metal in each side of the key - this little embossed peice of metal is the resister and it is surrounded by black trim.

2. Under the dash you will find a clip with two wires (see vehicle manual - we used chilton's - to find where your VATS is) Ours was a two prong grey wire next to the air bag harness (so becareful and make sure you have the correct one).

3. Once you have located the VATS wiring take the resistance value of the key and go to Radio Shack and get a resister that matches the value (can be rounded off to the nearest value - but stay as close as you can in value).

4. Unplug the VATS plug and put the resister across the two wires going towards the fuse box (not the stering column) try and turn over your car and see if it starts. If you have the correct resistance your car should start.

5. If your car starts - you have a choice; Replace the Key Switch (local dealer told us $85 & $205 for them to install that) or mount the resister to the wires (each leg of the resister should be connected to a wire - there are two wires in that plug - we used wire beanie and electrical tape to secure) Worked for us hope it will for you - Good Luck!